E-scooters in Nashville: Bird, Spin and Lime, the rules, the midnight curfew and where you can’t ride

Which e-scooter apps work in Nashville?

Metro Nashville’s Transportation Licensing Commission (TLC) issues the permits and writes the rules for “shared urban mobility devices”, its name for rental scooters and bikes. On 22 October 2026 Metro’s programme page listed three companies, all of which rent e-bikes as well as scooters:

• Bird, in the Bird app.
• Spin, in the Spin app. Spin has joined forces with Bird, its website says, and the two mark the same zones in their open data.
• Lime, in the Lime app. Lime publishes no open data for Nashville, so its scooters aren’t on our map. It still runs here: Metro lists it, and in September 2026 it asked the TLC for 50 more scooters.

The line-up may change. On 8 June 2026, after scoring five bids, Metro gave notice that it intends to award a new contract to Lime alone. Two bidders protested, a hearing followed on 22 July, and the TLC put off its decision in June, July and August. The award was on its agenda again on 20 October 2026; by 22 October Metro had published no decision. Once an award is final, the TLC rules end the older permits that have reached their last extension.

At 14:25 on 17 October 2026 the Nashville map showed about 415 Spin and 385 Bird scooters, some 800 in all: what was on the map at that moment, not the fleets. E-bikes aren’t counted, and Lime isn’t on the map.

Visiting? Install an app and add a payment card before you set out. Bird may ask you to verify your ID before your first ride: Metro makes the companies check that riders are 18. New to this? See how to rent an e-scooter.

How much does a scooter cost in Nashville?

On 22 October 2026 Bird and Spin published no Nashville prices, in their open data or on their websites: check the rate in the app before you unlock, Lime’s included. Metro’s programme page lists these discounts:

• Bird Community and Access Pricing: cheaper rides for people aged 65 or over, US veterans, and people on Medicaid, SNAP or an income-based utility discount, Bird’s website says.
• Spin Access and Lime Access: needs-based discounts, for example for people on SNAP or Medicaid.

Nashville e-scooter rules: age, sidewalks, helmets and alcohol

Nashville’s rules for rental scooters come from Metro, in Chapter 12.62 of the Metro Code and the TLC’s rules (last filed on 16 September 2026), and from the companies’ terms. Tennessee law applies on top: the TLC’s fines come in addition to any penalty under state law.

Broadway, the pedestrian bridge and parks: where you can’t ride

• Lower Broadway. The TLC makes Broadway a 10 mph slow zone from 7th Avenue to the Cumberland River and bans parking scooters on it; 2nd Avenue between Broadway and Union Street is a slow zone too. The companies slow scooters down there remotely. On 22 October 2026 Bird’s and Spin’s open data marked a no-parking strip along Broadway from 1st to 7th Avenue, and another along 1st Avenue North beside Riverfront Park. Park on a side street or in a corral and walk.
• The John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge. The same open data made the bridge a no-ride zone on 22 October 2026: walk across to Nissan Stadium and East Nashville.
• Greenways and parks. The TLC bans riding on Metro greenways as far as the Parks Board’s rules do (the greenways’ posted rules say “No motorized vehicles on the trails”), and in Metro parks except on their paved streets. The open data made Centennial Park, Shelby Bottoms and Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park no-parking zones, and part of the Richland Creek Greenway no-ride.
• Vanderbilt. The TLC rules make Vanderbilt University and its medical centre no-ride zones for scooters. The university bans rental scooters from nearly all of its campus, riding and parking included, and says their motors cut out at the campus boundary: end your ride before it. In Bird’s and Spin’s open data on 22 October 2026 the campus was a no-parking zone only.
• Belmont. Belmont University’s campus security says rented scooters and dockless bikes may not be ridden or stored on its property. On 22 October 2026 the open data set no zone there, so the app may not stop you: end your ride before you reach campus.
• Event days. Metro adds zones that scooters and e-bikes can’t enter for CMA Fest, the Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve.

Check the app’s map for zones before you set off. The live map shows where scooters are now.

Parking a scooter in Nashville

Park upright on a hard surface at the edge of the sidewalk, either along the buildings or in the strip by the curb where poles and trees stand (never in a planted bed), or at a Metro bike rack. Never park:

• on a sidewalk narrower than 8 feet;
• at bus stops and shelters, except at their bike racks, or at B-cycle stations;
• in loading zones or disabled parking, or beside benches and pay stations;
• at curb ramps, entryways or driveways.

Downtown, Metro’s new corrals (painted boxes, racks and stations) hold over 150 e-bikes and 1,500 scooters: use them. The TLC rules ask the companies to stop you ending a ride until the scooter is properly parked, and parking where it’s banned costs a $10 fine. Report a scooter in the way to hubNashville or 311.

Can you ride a scooter at night in Nashville?

Scooters stop at midnight. The TLC rules say: “Operation of SUMDs is prohibited after midnight and before 5:00 am, except for bicycles and electric bicycles”. It applies to the companies’ scooters every night, wherever Metro’s permits apply.

Nashville once stopped scooters earlier still: the emergency rules the Metro Council passed in July 2019 banned rides after 10 pm on weekdays and after 11 pm at weekends and on Metro holidays, WPLN reported.

Nights out on Broadway: alcohol, groups and the heat

Out on Broadway, with a bachelorette party or not? Four things to know before the ride home:

• Alcohol. Bird and Spin both forbid riding under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and Metro chooses its scooter companies partly on their commitment to keeping riders within the DUI laws.
• One to a scooter. No passengers, and every rider must be 18.
• Midnight. After it, the ride back to the hotel means an e-bike, a bus or a car.
• The weather. At the airport the normal July high is 91°F, so carry water; May is the wettest month.

WeGo buses and the airport (BNA)

WeGo buses carry two bikes on the front rack, and its e-bike policy bars rented e-bikes, naming Lime and Bird. It doesn’t mention scooters, so end your ride before you reach the stop: the TLC rules ban parking at bus stops, except at a bike rack. Pay by QuickTicket or a contactless card or phone and $2 buys two hours of unlimited rides, capped at $4 a day; exact cash pays $2 a ride, with no transfers.

Nashville International Airport (BNA), terminal included, lay inside a no-ride zone in Bird’s and Spin’s open data on 22 October 2026, so you can’t ride a scooter to your flight. WeGo’s Route 18 links BNA with WeGo Central downtown for $2: about 20 minutes on an express trip, 35 to 45 on a local one. It leaves from the Ground Transportation Center on Level 1 of the Terminal 2 Garage, and luggage is allowed.

Elsewhere in Tennessee, the Memphis map shows Bird scooters. Another Southern city with a night stop: Atlanta.

Did you know?

• Nashville had over 4,000 scooters from seven companies at the 2019 peak, WPLN reported. Metro then cut the fleets by half.
• A scooter in the river is litter. One found in a fountain, pond, lake or stream costs its company a $50 fine.
• Four scooters bring an e-bike. The TLC makes each company run at least one e-bike for every four scooters; in May 2024 that meant 175 e-bikes each.
• Every scooter carries a 24-hour phone number for safety concerns, complaints and questions.